Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography

Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography

In June 2014, Heather Wolfe, Curator of Manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library, will provide intensive training in the accurate reading and transcription of early modern English handwriting. Selected participants will focus primarily on the secretary and italic hands in the Tudor and Jacobean periods. They will also experiment with contemporary writing materials; learn the terminology for describing and comparing letter forms; consider the various editorial conventions relating to abbreviations, interlineal insertions, and deleted text; create a "mini-edition" of their own; and discuss the important and evolving role of handwritten documents within a wider context of print, manuscript, and oral cultures. Examples will be drawn from the Folger's collection. Several guest faculty will provide their expert views of manuscript culture.



Here is a link to the program description and application materials. As always, Elyse Martin (elmartin@folger.edu) and I (owilliams@folger.edu) are happy to answer any questions you or your affiliates may have.

Adapting Shakespeare among Alabamans

Last week Grace Tiffany was the guest of the University of Alabama's Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies, which sponsored her talks on Shakespeare and the theory (such as it is) and practice of Shakespearean adaptations.

Awards, Awards, and More Awards! March 21

Be sure to mark your calendar for Friday, March 21, 3:00-4:30, 208-209 Bernhard Center. We'll be honoring over 60 outstanding students, both undergraduate and graduate, and some of our many wonderful instructors and faculty. Nearly $20,000 in scholarships will be awarded!

And there will be cookies, too.  We can't forget that.

Third Coast Writing Project Camp for Young Writers, June 16-27

Applications are now available for the 12th Annual WMU English/Third Coast Writing Project's Camp for Young Writers!

Graduate Student Comics Conference April 2014 - CFP

Great news! In April, CMU (with a funding assist from WMU) will be holding its second annual ComiConference, a graduate student comics conference that will feature comics scholar Matt Smith as its plenary speaker. I strongly encourage you to apply - I will be driving over to CMU later in the day, but if a number of you created a panel or wanted to submit individually, you could probably carpool over. I attended the conference last year as the plenary speaker, and I had a wonderful time. Dr. Joseph Michael Sommers, my counterpart at CMU, has gathered a great group of students at the undergraduate and graduate level who are studying comics. You would have the opportunity to share your ideas with them and to meet other students from EMU and OSU, as well. To give you an idea of the potential audience, at least 260 people attended the event last year.

Here is the official Call for Papers:

Central Michigan University is hosting its second annual ComiConference on April 17th. The much-lauded plenary speaker will be Wittenberg University's own Matt Smith (not the Eleventh Doctor Himself, but the notable comics scholar!). There's no registration fee and no membership fee. If you're interested, send your abstracts and titles to Joseph Michael Sommers (somme1jm@cmich.edu) by Feb. 28th. Papers should be about 8-10 pp long. Pre-designed panels are welcome.

This is a fantastic opportunity to break into comics scholarship at a growing national presence in the comics studies world, so even if you've never done a close reading of comics before, go for it! Any and all questions about graphic novels, comics, illustrated literature, visual narrative, visuoverbal mediation, whatever you want to call it -- it's all welcome!